Not A Toy
by VanillaREM
Summary: Cream gets a new doll from her mother that looks oddly like Tails. Amy finds it innocent enough at first, but looks can be deceiving...
1. An Innocent Gift

Let me commend you on making such a brave choice in fanfic. My off-the-top-of-my-head fanfics are strange, I admit, but this idea I believe has potential. Please read and review, even if it's a flamer. I appreciate and welcome everything!

1. An Innocent Gift

"Oh wow! It looks just like my good friend! Thank you, mother!" Cream exclaimed, holding her new toy out in front of her to admire it.

"I thought you'd like it, dear," her mother said with a huge smile before planting a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Now are you and Cheese going outside to play with it?"

Cream nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! I'm going to show everyone!"

Cheese did a backflip in the air to express her excitement. "Chao chao!"

"Run along, now," Cream's mother said, ushering them both out the door. "Have fun, you two!" She called as the rabbit and fellow chao took to the air. They both waved back until their mother was out of sight.

Cream hugged her new doll to her young chest, treasuring it like Rouge would a jewel. "Isn't it amazing, Cheese?"

"Chao, chao?"

"My new doll looks just like Tails! But do you wanna know where we're going?"

"Chao?" she asked in response.

"To Amy's! We can play all day there!"

"Chao!"

Amy watched the outside intently from her window. It would seem that this was what she did all day unless something else caught her attention. A little extra money might persuade her to go shopping, someone visiting would mean she'd have to play hostess, if she felt frisky, she'd go out and chase what she was waiting for to come to her window: Sonic the Hedgehog.

That blue angel of a hedgehog...She'd sit there all day and fantasize until her eyelids grew heavy. She would then drift to sleep on thoughts of emerald eyes and ultramarine fur against her own...

Amy was jolted from her thoughts with a knock at the door. She turned to it quickly and craned her neck to see who was at the front door from where she sat at the window. Cream noticed her, waved, and pointed to the door perkily. Amy smiled back, leapt up, and hurried to open the door for her friend.

"Hey, Cream, Cheese! What's up?" the pink hedgehog exclaimed.

Cream hugged her new doll subconsciously. "You were watching for Mr. Sonic again, weren't you?"

Amy moved out of the way and motioned to a nearby chair for Cream and Cheese to sit. The rabbit sat down gracefully and Cheese landed on the armrest beside her.

"Who wants to know?" Amy replied coyly as she sat down in her favourite chair.

At that comment, Cheese took to the air and began pestering Amy, nudging and tickling to make her spill. Amy finally caught the tiny chao in midair and held her tight. "Alright, alright! You're one determined chao, aren't you, Cheese? Yeah, as always." Amy began to hug Cheese to her chest, her daydream mistaking her for Sonic. "Oh, I'm waiting for the day when my darling Sonic will finally come to his senses and propose to me!"

Cream watched as Cheese choked and gagged, wrestling to be free of Amy's grasp. "Um...Amy?"

Amy awoke from her reverie and noticed Cream still sitting in her living room. "What is it, Cream?"

Cream cocked her head to one side. "I...I think Cheese doesn't like you holding her so tightly..."

Amy glanced down and saw the chao glaring back up at her. She let her go swiftly and clapped her hands together in apology. "Whoops...Sorry, Cheese!"

With a brief, "Chao, chao," Cheese went to sit back down beside Cream.

That's when Amy caught a glimpse of what Cream had been cradling so fondly. "What's that you've got there, Cream?"

"Oh, it's my new doll. I was hoping we could play something together!" Cream stood up and handed the doll to Amy for her to see.

Amy took it and held it at arm's length. It bore an uncanny resemblance to Tails, but with a red jewel attached to its head. Its head fell limply to one side with painted eyes staring blankly back at her. The stitching was obvious, and the stuffing was quite lumpy, yet Cream seemed to love it. To Amy, it was like a deformed version of their friend, and it creeped her out.

"It certainly is...unique," Amy lied. "And it looks just like Tails. Is that why you like it so much?"

Cream shook her head. "I don't have very many dolls, not like you. This one's pretty—I like the jewel on his head."

Amy gave the doll back. "You're beginning to sound like Rouge!"

"Chao!"

Cream giggled and cuddled the doll again. "I still like this one."

Amy got up and dusted her skirt. "If you want another doll, I'd be glad to give you one, Cream. But, let's get something to eat before we play. You can leave Tails here while we do that."

"Thank you, Amy. I'd really appreciate that." She set the strange doll down on the chair where Amy had sat. "Are you hungry, Cheese?" Cream asked.

Cheese did another backflip in the air. "Chao!"

They followed Amy to the kitchen with growling stomachs. The doll sat flaccidly, staring at the backs of the three girls. It had captured the heart of one. But that's all it would take. The jewel on top of its head began to glow a bright carmine red.

I'm not used to chapters being so short...Wow... If you survived the weirdness, please review. Thank you, and have a nice day.


	2. The Jewel Hunter

Wow... 7 reviews for the first chapter...That's the most I've ever received for an actual story chapter...And they're all nice, too...You people are all too kind!!! Love ya!

To reviewer Nail Strafer: Chucky movie? As in Rugrats with the huge dinosaur thing? Uh...not exactly what I had in mind...

And reviewer Raiegki Leviathan: I was trying to be subtle, but looks like you know your Sonic CD.

2. The Jewel Hunter

As the red jewel shone like a lurid light, two eyes caught sight of it from the other side of the window. With hands and full face pressed against the glass of the Victorian window, Rouge smiled with starry eyes.

"Hm...What a pretty gem...Would make a fine addition to my little collection..." Finally the bat's eyes observed the surroundings of the scarlet jewel. The jewel was attached to a small gold ring which was sewn onto a doll. A familiar doll...

Rouge took her face from the glass but continued to stare at the doll, the lust for the jewel now gone from her eyes. "That doll...It looks like...Fox Boy..." Rouge stepped back from the window and looked up at the house. "I wonder who he belongs to?" She jumped on hearing muffled voices coming from inside the house. She saw a small chao emerging from the doorway at the end of the room and ducked into the bushes in front of the window.

"This should be enough, right, Cream?" Amy asked, counting the chocolate chip cookies on the china plate she held.

"More than enough," the rabbit answered while trying to hold a jug of milk and orange juice in each hand. "It's going to be a great tea party!"

Cream stopped walking when Cheese began to pester her. "What is it, Cheese?"

"Chao! Chao!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"Oh! The ice cream! I almost forgot..."

Amy set the plate down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "You two want ice cream?"

"Yes, please!" Cream cried, placing the jugs beside the plate.

Amy headed for the kitchen once more. "Alright..."

Rouge had picked up the whole conversation with her sensitive ears, all the while still under the cover of the bushes. She raised her head slightly and peered through the leaves to see the rabbit pick up the doll and sit down where she had left the doll.

"This must be that crazy girl's house..." Rouge giggled as she glanced around the room. "Wonder where her robot baby is? Or maybe Daddy took it back, ha ha..."

(A/N: See Sonic Battle for GBA.)

Rouge's eyes once again fell upon Cream, who was fondling the doll of her friend. She seemed to be talking softly to it, though Rouge couldn't make out what she was saying. "That rabbit with the chao again. So it's her doll...And she sure seems to love it a lot. Almost as much as I love jewelry..."

Just then her ears picked up a frustrated chao. She looked up to see it standing right on the pedestal of the window and crying out madly, scowling at her the whole time. Rouge heard the springs in the rabbit's armchair squeak as she got up, and with a rush of adrenaline, flew straight up as quickly as she could. She landed on the edge of the roof, and sat a moment to catch her breath and clean the twigs and leaves off of herself.

She spat out a leaf and glanced back down to the window. The rabbit was looking around and the chao still fussing about unhappily. Rouge breathed a sigh of relief as she drew a twig from her huge left ear. "Boy, the things I do for these jewels..."

"I don't get it...What are you trying to say, Cheese?" Cream questioned, eyeing her chao friend suspiciously.

Cheese seemed to keep pointing upward and flying in angry circles.

Cream looked outside again. "There's no one out there, and even if there was, they're gone now. It's okay, Cheese!" Cream snatched her out of the air and put her on her lap beside the doll.

Amy returned with a large bowl of ice cream. She watched Cream and Cheese playing with the doll, Cheese now much quieter. "What was that all about?"

Cream locked eyes with the hedgehog. "Nothing. Cheese thought she saw someone outside. That's it."

Amy rested the bowl on the pedestal and surveyed the outside. She scowled as she drew the curtains. "Hmph. No one spies on Amy Rose. Now, about that tea party...Let's go out to the garden. It's pretty with all the flowers this time of year!"

Cream picked up the jugs, Amy took the plate and bowl, while Cheese took the doll. They both followed Amy into the back garden as Rouge swung to hang upside down from the eaves. She glowered at the curtains. "Hey! You're blocking my view of that beautiful jewel!"

She folded her arms and remained pouty for a moment, watching an ant crawl across the window ledge. "That jewel seemed special...I must have it...It glowed like nothing I've ever seen before...Like...a red light bulb, only prettier...like the moon! Like..." Rouge gasped on thinking of her next simile. "Like a Chaos Emerald!"

She jumped down and landed right-side-up on both feet. "Come to think of it...it did seem to be the right size for one, as well!" She glanced back to the window nervously. "That rabbit girl doesn't know what she's getting herself into with that doll if it is a Chaos Emerald. And putting two and two together...a powerful Chaos Emerald and an innocent little doll of Fox Boy...it sounds like a scheme that mad doctor came up with!" With one powerful leap, Rouge took to the air and began to fly. "I'd better see if Sonic knows anything of this."

* * *

Heh...kinda weird. Took me only an hour to write...and right of the top of my head, too...But please, people, if you wanna know what happens next, review. I want your input as much as you want mine (Well, if it's a flamer, I'll accept that as well). So, together, let's make this fanfic better! Please be kind to your teachers and the environment. Thank-Q and have a nice day. 


	3. Chaos Rising

So many reviews! I'm crying! Where did I go right?! But that doesn't mean stop, people! I always value your opinions, suggestions, and complaints!

To reviewer The Great Critic 2: THANK YOU!!! I wanna be an author when I grow up, so would you say I'm on the right track?

To reviewer Raiegki Leviathan: Really? No one else writes about that thing? Yeah, Rouge doesn't know what she's getting into, but neither do I, so we're even, I guess. (I don't own Sonic R and haven't played it, so I'm just going on the typical evil-invention stereotype. He, he...but I'm researching the subject right now...)

To reviewer mister-too-bored-to-sign-in: Really? The concept's new, I mean? And yeah, I agree that the writing's simple and not very descriptive, but I'm trying a new thing where I don't take a whole page to describe something, because when I do that, nobody reads nor reviews...

To reviewer DarkXeno: Carmine might be a word I'll use a couple more times, and yes, it's an actual word, I didn't mean 'crimson'. It means pretty much the same, though—red.

To reviewer (who asked about the size of the doll (sorry I can't remember your name)): The doll is about as big as Cheese.

3. Chaos Rising

"More tea, Cream?" asked Amy, lifting the jug and ready to pour.

"Yes, please, it's delicious!" Cream replied, holding her cup steady as the orange juice cascaded into it.

Cheese started to cry for food, and Cream handed her a nut. The chao devoured it, causing Amy and Cream to laugh. Cream then looked to her doll. "Would you like some more, Tails?"

The doll sat propped up against the back of the chair, silent as death. Yet Cream reached for the jug and poured it into the cup in front of it. Amy watched, and glanced at her own Sonic doll across the table from Tails. She had an uneasy feeling about Cream's doll. The way Cream admired it, it was almost as if its eyes were hypnotic. And the jewel atop the head looked oddly like a Chaos Emerald. But it couldn't be. No way, Amy told herself.

* * *

"Bingo!" Rouge exclaimed, finally noticing a blue streak zip across the landscape below. She swooped down, but of course, was unable to keep up with the blue blur.

She cleared her throat, and, "SONIC! SONIC! SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" She coughed, her throat dry and painful. "How unladylike!" she rasped. "But if I wanna help those two for some reason, I've gotta cross that border..."

Sonic's ears perked up and he turned his head to see what was behind him. He raised his head and saw a figure in the air some distance behind him. He began to slow down and came to a complete halt, watching the figure land in front of him. The bat stood, hands on knees, breathing heavily to catch her breath as Sonic contemplated her impatiently.

He began to tap his foot. "Yeah? What is it, Rouge?"

Rouge raised her head to lock gaze with him. "I...hurried...fast as "

"And?"

"Amy..."

"What about her?"

"And Cream...New doll...that looks like Tails..."

"A doll that looks like Tails?!" Sonic cried, stopping his foot and taking his hands from his waist.

"Jewel on head...looks like Chaos Emerald!" Rouge managed to finish.

"You mean the Tails Doll?! Oh Man, I'd better get to that doll before they do!" Sonic concluded before zipping off in another blue streak.

Rouge sighed as he disappeared. "He doesn't even know where he's going!"

She took to the air again and headed back to Amy's house. "Obviously that 'Tails Doll' isn't a good thing. Maybe for once I can be the hero instead of that hedgehog! I wonder what types of rewards heroines get?"

* * *

"Wow, I'm full!"

"My mother's going to be mad that I won't eat my supper," Cream added.

Amy leant forward and smiled. "That's okay, you can stay over that way you won't have to go home for dinner!" She then looked to her stomach and patted it with puzzlement in her eyes. "I'm just worried that I gained some weight...If you stay you'll boxercize with me, right?"

"Boxercize?" Cream asked, taking the Tails Doll in her arms.

"Yeah, you remember? Practice fighting? I need to look good for Sonic!" Amy said as she lifted the plates from the table. She headed for the screen door of her house. "I'll just put these away and be back in a moment, kay?"

"Yeah, sure!" Cream replied. She hugged the doll again, Cheese watching almost enviously.

* * *

"Rouge! Rouge! Where are you?!"

His feet gyrated so rapidly that they were all a blur of red, blue, and white. As they covered the dusty desert ground, dense clouds of sand were kicked up behind them creating a wake bigger than the object that made it. He was just a blue, indistinct figure in the middle of the hot desert area.

He continued to keep his eyes peeled for the snow-white bat. "Where is that girl? I forgot to ask where Amy and Cream were..."

He finally ground to a halt. The dust blown from behind him was caught in the wind and blown right into his face. He hacked away for a moment until it settled once more. "I've gotta get that Tails Doll away from them right away, but since Rouge isn't here, I've gotta look myself." He scrutinized the landscape repeatedly. "But where to start...?"

He pondered this for a little while before taking off in the direction he had come from. "Oh well, I'll just check everywhere! I just hope I won't be too late..."

* * *

Amy re-entered the garden, being careful to close the screen door behind her. She admired the beauty of her garden momentarily. The bright sun shone down through the dense deciduous trees near the back fence. Small rhododendrons and various flowers sat in front of the trees and outlined the fences. The most recurring flower were pink roses, Amy's favourite, but there were also quite a few blue flowers, always nestled in among the pink. Amy glanced to where Cream sat, still and silent at the table in the middle of the garden. She held the Tails Doll in her arms and her head was down, almost touching the doll with her ears flopping down in front of her face.

"Hey, Cream! I'm ready, are you?" she exclaimed, rushing over to her friend.

Cheese popped out from behind Cream and zipped over to Amy, twittering in her face exuberantly. The little chao seemed frantic, alarmed, and scared. Amy just stared back, dumbfoundedly. "Huh? What's going on, Cheese? Whoa!" She cried as Cheese took hold of her arm and began to pull her over to their rabbit friend.

Amy bent down to try to see her face, but Cream's head and ears made such an angle and cover so that it was impossible to see. "Cream? Is something wrong?"

There was no response.

Cheese started to tug at one of Cream's long ears. Again, there was no response, just the limp stiffness of a doll. That's when Amy and Cheese noticed that the crimson jewel on top of the doll in Cream's arms was scintillating its vibrant colour...

* * *

Ooooh! Suspense... Tell me what you think, everyone! Too descriptive, could it use a little more descriptive? What do you think of the plot? Good, bad, or downright ugly? I wanna know everything, so please keep the reviews coming! Love ya! 


	4. Death's Puppet

This time, I'm just gonna answer a couple of reviewers then start. But geesh, this English project has really thrown me off from writing this! I mean, this IS English, is it not? I should've told my teacher that. Then maybe she'll stop giving us spelling words like blue, again, and ache. GEESH!

To reviewer trenton(1 sonicfreak: Uh...Sorry, still don't know what you guys are talking about. But thanks for trying...

To reviewer toonfreak: Rhododendrons are those hedge bushes you see in gardens. They're short, often about three or four feet in height and are just...well, bushes...

To reviewer ecea: Yeah, it could be longer, but as I said to mister-too-bored-to-sign-in, I'm trying a new writing style, where I don't take ten chapters to get a five-chapter-story across, because when I make the writing more complex, nobody reads nor reviews.

To reviewer angel7070: I know who you are! Mwaha! HPF! You didn't have to read this Sonic thingy...But, I'm glad you did. And uh...about that story I promised you—I've got the plot and everything you specified, just have to write the thing...XD Please be patient...And see you at school? What the? I wish...I wanna go back, I don't like it here. The people are too tall and the teachers aren't personable...

4. Death's Puppet

"Cream? Cream!" Amy cried, starting to panic. She whipped to Cheese. "Why is that thing glowing? It wasn't glowing before! What's going on?!"

"Chao!" was all she could reply.

Amy grabbed Cream's shoulders and began to shake her back and forth. "Cream! Cream! What's wrong? Oh please, wake up, Cream, wake up!" she screamed, her eyes welling up with tears.

Cream continued to sit with her head buried in her chest, the head of the Tails Doll staring back at Amy. Amy let go of her friends and buried her head in her hands and broke down in the grass. Cheese hovered over her head, watching Cream warily.

"Oh, Cream, Cream...I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have left you alone with that doll! I knew there was something wrong with it and I was right! I'm a horrible person!" Amy wept, sinking lower and lower to her legs. She paused and lifted her head on hearing the rustle of fabric.

Cream had stood up, and lifted her head. Amy and Cheese shot up like lightning. "You're okay! Don't fool me like that, Cream! You had me scared half to..." she trailed off when she saw that the rabbit's eyes were closed. Cream just stood there, still holding the Tails Doll tightly in both hands. Her eyelids seemed heavy, but then they slowly started to rise, Amy and Cheese gawking with mixed emotions. The gawking became gasps when the lidded eyes revealed bright red pupils.

Amy and Cheese backed away slightly. "Chao?" Cheese whimpered, inching closer and closer to Amy.

Cream began to lift her left arm, prying it away from the doll. Then, when it was halfway to full height, it shot up to full height, her palm pointing at one of the large trees in the back of Amy's yard. The jewel atop the Tails Doll's head flashed a bright red and the tree Cream was pointing to did the same. Amy and Cheese only had a chance to glance at the tree before it came crashing down where they were standing.

Amy grabbed Cheese and leapt out of the way just in time. She slid across the slippery grass a short distance, landing face down and clutching the chao to her chest. Recovering from her shock, Amy rolled over and sat up to look at her friend.

"Cream?!" she screamed again. The rabbit responded by raising her hand and wreaking more havoc on Amy's garden by bringing yet another tree to the ground. Again, Amy and Cheese evaded the hit.

Amy now stood at the edge of the garden, having nowhere to run except into the fence. She glanced at the side gate. "I don't know what's going on, Cheese, but we'd better get out of here!"

The chao chirruped her agreement and shot out of Amy's arms, leading the way out of the garden. Reaching the gate, Amy didn't bother fighting with the latch and simply propelled herself up and over the fence with her Piko Piko Hammer. Both she and Cheese halted on the other side of the fence to look back. Cream was right behind them, flapping her huge ears to clear the fence. Amy and Cheese began to waste no time in hightailing it out of there.

Amy's house was beginning to make itself visible from the air, and Rouge slowly lowered her altitude. Though on seeing the backyard, she noticed something different—the fallen trees and an abandoned tea party. There was no Amy or Cream in sight. Rouge swooped down and landed in front of the house.

Rouge stood and brushed herself off, covered in dust and sand from the desert. "I have to take a shower after this! I can't believe I went in there in the first place!" She lifted her head on hearing a scream. Amy tore at her out of nowhere from the right, Cheese following closely behind her and neither watching where they were going. Not being able to move out of the way in time, Rouge screamed as Amy collided with her.

The two fell to the ground, Amy quickly recovering and getting up of the bat. "I'm so sorry, Rouge, but Cream's after us!" she cried between gasps for breath.

"Yeah, well just watch where you're going, pinky!" Rouge retorted, dusting herself off once more.

"My name is Amy!" Amy yelled angrily.

"Whatever. You know you're just so anno—"Rouge stopped in mid-sentence on looking up and seeing Cream come to a halt a metre or so behind Amy. The two watched the young rabbit scowl at them with glowing red eyes, clutching the Tails Doll innocently.

"The Tails Doll, Sonic called it," Rouge muttered.

Amy whipped her head to Rouge. "What? You found Sonic?"

The sudden move spurred the Tails Doll in Cream's arms to manipulate her to retaliate. Cream's arms shot out like lighting, gripping the Tails Doll between her elbows expertly as she swiped for Amy's neck.

Anticipating something as soon as Amy made the sudden move, Rouge grabbed Amy and flew up into the air, Amy dodging Cream's lethal hands by only millimetres. Amy looked down on Cream, panting heavily. "Wow...Thank you Rouge! I owe you!"

"Double." Rouge replied, cringing under the weight of holding Amy up by her armpits. "For running into me as well, I mean."

"Oh yeah—you said you told Sonic about Cream?" Amy stopped talking as Cream flapped her ears and rose to the height in the air so that she was level with Rouge. Again, there was a standstill between the two parties. "Rouge...What...do we do?"

"Quiet!" Rouge shushed her. "And don't make any sudden moves. Just because you want to endanger your life, doesn't mean I want you to endanger mine, girl."

Rouge's eyes and Cream's eyes were locked, the bat watching vigilantly for the slightest sign of an offensive manoeuvre. Amy was getting heavy in her arms, and the tension of waiting for Cream to move wasn't helping. If Cream didn't move, she would have to. It was now or never.


	5. It All Comes Down To This

I wanna congratulate you people for making it to the last chapter of Not A Toy. Thank you for reading and reviewing, now please enjoy the last chap!

To reviewer Spadehand: THANK YOU! Now I finally know what you guys were talking about... Stupid Chucky thing... Yeah, thanks so much. You explained enough, that's all I needed to know.

To reviewer toonfreak: It's okay, there's no need be. We learn something new everyday!

5. It All Comes Down To This

Rouge's eyes and Cream's eyes were locked, the bat watching vigilantly for the slightest sign of an offensive manoeuvre. Amy was getting heavy in her arms, and the tension of waiting for Cream to move wasn't helping. If Cream didn't move, she would have to. It was now or never.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline, Rouge shot up into the air. She was rising high, and rising fast. Her sensitive ears were popping and with the speed it brought on an excruciating pain. She could hear Amy whine as her ears began to feel it as well. Rouge glanced down, seeing Cream rising as fast as they were, if not faster. It was time for another risky move.

Rouge pulled a backflip in the air, arching her back to the point that her spine made a sharp angle. The sudden thrust hurt her neck, and she groaned as both she an Amy shot back down. Rouge bent her neck forward to her chest to tackle the pain, and saw Cream making a front-flip in the air and heading straight for them. Upon raising her head again, she saw that the ground was now approaching. She twitched her ears—they hurt again, but not because of the air pressure—Amy's shrill screams. Rouge did a barrel-roll as they headed straight for the ground and righted herself only mere inches from it. The nearby bushes followed the gusts created by her powerful wings as they rose steadily into the air once again.

Amy had covered her eyes and was still screaming, but then stopped when Rouge jerked her violently. "Will you stop struggling? You're not exactly lightweight, you know!"

"Yeah? Well, how about not trying to kill me?! What did you think you were doing out there?!" Amy screamed back.

"Stop screaming! My ears hurt because of you!"

"My ears hurt, too! Why'd you have to go so fast?!"

"Stop complaining! Do you want me to drop you? Augh!" Rouge cried as she felt something sharp graze her left shoulder. The sudden shock made her lose her grip...

Rouge watched in horror as the pink hedgehog and the chao plummeted. "Amy!" she called, having stopped in mid-air. She turned around to see Cream gaining on her. She held the Tails Doll in front of her and a small laser beam shot out of the jewel. Rouge was able to dodge it this time. She shot down in the slim hopes of catching the girl, but she seemed to have disappeared.

Rouge scrutinized the ground where Amy should have at least been lying, but there was no trace of her. She glanced around frantically, stopping in the air again. "Oh no...Where'd she go? She couldn't have just disappeared!"

She felt something like a liquid trickle down the arm where she had been hit with the object. There was a deep cut in her upper arm and blood was streaming from it. The skin also seemed to be singed a little. She must have been hit by the laser, yet she had barely felt it burn right through her skin. It had just felt like a cut. With no time to tend to her wound, she was off like a shot once more. All this stopping was giving Cream too much time to catch up.

Suddenly Rouge felt another shot graze her right arm this time. There was a flash of heat, and as she glanced at her arm, she saw that her glove had caught fire from the laser. She immediately panicked, waving her arm up and down and screaming. Then, she calmed slightly and pulled off her glove hectically and let it fall some hundred feet, all ablaze. She winced and groaned deeply and watched the second degree burn on her arm start to blister and boil. She whimpered as she glanced back at Cream, relentless in pursuit. Rouge's wings were beginning to tire. She couldn't flap them forever.

Amy screamed as she dove for the ground with Cheese in her grasp. How could Rouge have let her go? She didn't even give a warning! And now the two of them were headed straight for a broken death. Cheese could save herself, Amy realized.

She stopped screaming. "Cheese, you can fly. I'm letting you go, okay? Don't worry about me!"

Without waiting for any reply, she loosened her grip and watched as Cheese zoomed out of her sight. The tiny chao had taken to the air, and she, Amy, was still falling with no hope of survival when she impacted. She closed her eyes and blinked away the tears. "I'm so sorry, anyone I've hurt..." she whispered.

The ground reached her closer than she had expected, but the ground seemed to cushion her impact and move at a high speed. Was this the express train to heaven or hell? She didn't care. All she knew was that the train was warm and knew her name.

"Amy!"

The train sounded familiar, as well. Maybe it was one of her dead relatives that was the conductor. She opened her eyes to see...

"Sonic!" she gasped. She could barely muster any more. She was so exhausted. "Am I...dead?"

Sonic smiled down at her, continuing with his high-speed pursuit as he held the tired girl in his arms. "No. But that was a pretty nasty fall."

Sonic ground to a halt and set Amy down gently. "You okay?"

Amy wobbled a little, dizzy and in no condition to go crazy over her saviour. "I think... Thanks..."

He gave her a thumbs-up and a wink. "No prob. Now, where'd Rouge and Cream get off to?"

Amy looked to him with a victimized expression. "I have no idea... Sonic...I'm really scared. I had my suspicions about that thing right from the beginning, and I didn't do anything about it! Then, it possessed Cream and now she's trying to kill us all!"

Sonic clenched his fists. "What did that thing look like?"

"Tails...with a red jewel on top of its head..."

"I thought so. The Tails Doll—one of Eggman's old inventions. I had always thought that thing was pretty harmless—guess I never saw its true power... I'd better go find Rouge. Watch yourself, Amy!" he said before taking off.

"Be careful, Sonic!" Amy called after him, now near fainting.

Rouge noticed that her continual flying had brought her to the downtown core. It was a bustling area since it was the middle of the day. Maybe she could use that to her advantage, but she also didn't want to draw other people into the problem. Then she spotted it—the alleyways that riddled the core because of the many buildings. With some luck, she could lure Cream into a trap.

Rouge dove down and kept low to the ground as she travelled through an alley. She took a glance behind her. The Tails Doll wasn't allowing Cream to fall for it. Cream stayed high in the air, not following Rouge down. Rouge then came to a main street and landed right on the curb. She watched the cars whiz past her and glanced upward. Sure enough, there was Cream, but she was just hovering there.

She looked to the street again. She could easily fly over it in a pinch, why did their speed intimidate her? She stared, mesmerized by them, feeling the pain return to her numbed arm as she did so. It was her all alone with this freak of a toy that had possessed the girl. Her wings ached to high heavens, so she should try to conserve what was left of them. What should she do? She wouldn't be able to run fast enough to get away from an airborne enemy.

Suddenly Rouge was blown forward and into the path of oncoming cars. Whipping behind her, she saw that another laser from the Tails Doll had created a small explosion that had obliterated the pavement. Cream landed where Rouge had been standing and leapt forward. Rouge could get up and fly, but seeing a car speed for her paralyzed her. She screamed and covered her head, if one death didn't get her, the other would.

She felt herself being lifted and moved at a high speed. What was happening? She lifted her hands and opened her eyes, seeing Sonic holding her as he headed out of the city.

"We've gotta get out of this area, Rouge. We don't want innocent people getting hurt," he explained, keeping his eyes fixed forward.

He put her down once they reached the desert. "You okay?"

Rouge seemed shocked for a moment, then regained her composure. She patted her clothing. "Yes, thank you," she replied huffily.

They raised their heads as Cream descended and landed in front of them. Again, there was that impending silence and stillness that made them feel uneasy. The Tails Doll was calculating its next move as Rouge and Sonic studied theirs.

"We have to get that doll away from her," Sonic muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Rouge glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and nodded slightly, feeling herself sweating as much as her body ached. She had a plan—reckless—but a plan nonetheless. Strategy didn't work on this thing, so the only thing left was brute force.

Rouge leapt forward and tackled Cream to the ground. "What are you doing?!" gasped Sonic, standing and staring dumbfounded.

Rouge fought Cream, who struggled violently and held tight to the Tails Doll. Rouge grabbed the tails of the doll in one hand and continued to pull in an effort to take it from Cream's hand. Cream had now resorted to biting and gnawed at Rouge's other hand. Rouge cried out, but only gripped the rabbit's arm tighter. Finally, the doll came loose from Cream's hand. Rouge lifted it high in the air and threw it as far as she could. It landed a couple of metres away.

Cream slowly stopped her fighting back and lay flat on her back, closing her eyes and appearing to be asleep. Rouge slowly got off of her, wary that like some weird machine, she would suddenly start up again. Seeing that Cream was down for the count, Rouge stepped over her and headed for the doll. She stood in front of it scowling murderously as she slowly raised her foot.

"This is for the pain you caused me," she began, bringing her foot down and squishing it under her boot. "And this is for making me work with that crazy girl," she continued, bringing her foot down harder this time. "This is for my dignity," she began to yell, grinding her foot into its head. "And this is for my glove—"

"Rouge!"

She looked behind her to see Sonic briefly, then she hit the ground hard. Something had a hold of her foot, and it wasn't letting go. Sure enough, it was Cream, still possessed by the doll. Rouge looked back to the doll and reached for it. She took it in her hand and placed one hand on the body and one on the head. In one swift move, she decapitated it, splitting it in two and watching the stuffing squeeze out. Rouge laughed and glanced to Cream—she still had a firm grip on her leg.

"What the?" She felt the doll, or what she thought was the doll, begin to squirm around in her hands. There was a sudden jolt that emanated from the doll, making her yelp in pain and drop it. To her horror, the doll began to reassemble itself once it hit the ground. The body crawled over to the head and lay itself beside the neck. The neck began to re-stitch itself, but only half-attached itself before crawling back to Cream's arms.

Cream reached out with her other hand feebly and grabbed the head of the doll savagely, ripping it apart again as she pulled it towards her. Rouge kicked the freakish rabbit from her foot in fear and crawled away as fast as she could. Cream stood up and held the Tails Doll's head in her right hand while glaring at Rouge with her glowing red eyes.

While Cream was preoccupied, Sonic dashed forward and grabbed the Tails Doll's body and dashed in front of Rouge. He locked gaze with Cream.

"Get out of here, Sonic," Rouge prodded. "Take that thing's body with you. Now!"

Sonic turned to see the determined look in her eye. There wasn't much point in arguing, but Cream was unpredictable and leaving the injured bat here to fend for herself may not turn out the best results. But, he could probably save others by listening to her advice. He nodded to her and took off.

Once he was a considerable distance away, he slowed down and made to turn around but felt a sudden immense burning sensation in his back. He hit the ground as a result of the shock and dropped the body. It landed a few feet in front, he could see as he slowly raised his head. He groaned in pain, but then gasped as he saw the doll's body standing up on its own. The head descended, having come up behind him and set itself on the body once more. This time, he watched as an invisible string sewed the head to the body, stitch by stitch.

He heard footsteps and looked to see Cream come up behind him and stand behind the Tails Doll. She reached down to pick it up as the jewel on its head shone brighter than ever. It seemed to be charging up for an attack. Sonic tried to force himself up, but the pain in his back hurt like hell. He closed his eyes, seeing the bright red colour that emanated from the jewel through his eyelids.

An ear-splitting yell, a scream, and the sound of something heavy hitting the dusty ground. The light had disappeared, and Sonic opened his eyes. Where Cream had been standing, she was now lying on the ground, out cold. Right in front of him was a plastic eye and stuffing. He raised his gaze a bit more to see a yellow and red hammer.

"Amy!"

Amy smiled at him. "Hey, Sonic!"

He looked to the hammer again. "What happened?"

She lifted it slowly to reveal a squashed Tails Doll. She rested the hammer on her shoulder and bent down to shift through the pieces. Sonic watched as she picked up one of the jewel shards.

"It wasn't a Chaos Emerald after all..." She looked to Sonic again. "Aren't you going to get up?"

"I can't," he sighed.

She put down the shard and her hammer and lifted him by his arms, placing him in an upright position. She drew back rapidly on seeing the prominent gash in the middle of his back from the blast the Tails Doll had given him.

"Oh my God! What happened to you, Sonic? Are you okay?"

Sonic winced and looked to Cream lying on the ground. "Yeah, I'm alright. Or will be, anyway. What about Cream?"

Amy smiled, having regained her composure. "She'll be okay, too. She'll wake up in a little while. Rouge?"

Rouge staggered towards them, holding her left arm to staunch the blood that was trailing down her arm in small rivulets. She collapsed to her knees just as she reached them. "Don't worry about me. So long as you destroyed that awful thing, I'm fine."

"The Tails Doll is gone for good, as you can see," said Amy as she motioned to the mess of fabric, cotton and red shards.

Sonic looked to the sky. "Man, this has been one heck of a day, hasn't it? I suppose we should really keep an eye on what little kids play with," he relished with a laugh.

Rouge and Amy acknowledged the comment. "I want those jewel shards," muttered Rouge.

"Yeah? Well you can't have them," Amy scolded playfully. "They're not a toy!"

* * *

THE END. That took a while. Longer, and a bit of a flop. Wow...swearing...I don't swear...What happened? Nyah... Please tell me what you think, and have a nice day. 


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